KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 23, 2019 (UPI) — An American service member was killed in action in Afghanistan on Monday, the U.S. military said.
In its brief statement, U.S. Forces Afghanistan did not say how the soldier was killed or where the incident occurred.
“In accordance with U.S. Department of Defense policy, the name of the service member killed in action is being withheld until 24 hours after notification of next of kin is complete,” it said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing with spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stating on Twitter the attack occurred in Kunduz Province where U.S. forces were targeted with improvised explosive devices.
The death brings the number of U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan to 20 for the year, making it the deadliest for U.S. forces since 2014.
In November, Chief Warrant Officers David C. Knadle and Kirk T. Fuchingami Jr. were killed in a helicopter crash while providing security to ground troops in the Middle Eastern country’s Logan Province.
Fuchingami was born in Hawaii, but lived in Brigham City where he was buried in early December.
The last service member to die by enemy fire was in September when Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy W. Griffin was killed while engaged in combat operations in Wardak Province, the Department of Defense said.
Monday’s death follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement during a surprise trip to Kabul over Thanksgiving that he had restarted peace negations with the Taliban after having called them off a month earlier after the militant group killed 12 people including a U.S. service member with a car bomb
